A machine for tying knots in a linear substrate that is woven simultaneously on the machine or prewoven and fed through the machine. A cutter system uses a knife and a looper independently operated by a series of clamp blocks and connecting links. A yarn needle carries the yarn to the looper for cross weaving. A roller assembly maintains the cut yarn in a taut position. An adjustable picker assembly having cams gathers a number of yarn strands together. A knot tying needle assembly has one end affixed to the machine with an open eyed movable needle for grasping the gathered strands. An adjustable knot tightener interacts with the movable needle to tighten the knot with the aid of an oscillating gear. A rake assembly moves the tied knots to the completion end of the machine.
|
1. A machine for tying knots onto a linear base material, said machine having initialization end and a completion end, the improvement comprising:
a cutter system, said cutter system being proximate the center of said machine and having a knife and a looper, said looper moving to a receiving position to receive threads of yarn from a needle and to a rest position to await a subsequent thread of yarn, and said knife moving to cut said yarn positioned on said looper; a yarn needle, said yarn needle being on a first side of said machine and moving from said first side to said center of said machine, said yarn needle carrying yarn to said looper; a roller assembly, said roller assembly having a bristle roller and a grooved worm, said bristle roller being in contact with said grooved worm, said grooved worm receiving yarn from said yarn needle and moving said yarn toward said completion end; a picker assembly, said picker assembly extending from said completion end of said machine and pulling a predetermined number of yarn strands together; a knot tying needle assembly said knot tying needle assembly being affixed at one end of a first side of said machine and having a movable needle with an open eye, said movable needle being extendable to a knot tying area proximate said roller assembly, a knot tightener, said knot tightener being positioned to interact with said movable needle and a rotating gear, said rotating gear rotating said movable needle in clockwise and counterclockwise directions; a filler hook assembly, said filler hook assembly being movably affixed to said second side of said machine and moving to grab and lift said cut yarn from said roller assembly; a needle rod, said needle rod contacting said movable needle and prevent said yarn from moving along said moveable needle while said knot is being tied; a rake assembly, said rake assembly having a rake, said rake rotating around a wheel and being positioned come in contact with said tied knots and move said tied knots toward said completion end; wherein said cutter assembly, said yarn needle, said roller assembly, said picker assembly, said knot tying needle assembly, said filler hook assembly, said needle rod and said rake assembly are synchronized with one another to tie fringe knots.
3. The machine of
4. The machine of
5. The machine of
6. The machine of
|
The present application claims the benefits under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/244,275, filed Oct. 30, 2000. This application incorporates by reference, as though recited in full, the disclosure of copending provisional application No. 60/244,275.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved machine for making knotted fringe for use on rugs and the like.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
There are various machines for making narrow strips of fringe material that are used in the decoration and trimming of larger sheets of fabric, such as bedspreads and rugs. Most of these machines make the fringe material in which the fringe strands depend freely from the webs without being knotted. However, there is a demand for fringe material in which the strands are tied in knots. One example of a prior fringe knot tying machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 504,315 issued to Arnold, Sep. 5, 1893. However, this machine is limited to a plurality of cam actuated pins twisting the yarns in the plane of the fringe while cooperating with a cam actuating hook reciprocating in a plane perpendicular to the fringe plane to tie a knot simultaneous with the formation of the fringe.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,780 a knot tying machine is disclosed to tie successive knots in strands of fringe material. This machine is used in conjunction with a fringe tufting machine, so that knots are tied in the fringe yarns immediately after the fringe is formed, in one continuous operation.
This knot tying machine incorporates a tying needle having an elongated eye adapted to reciprocate across the feed path of a moving strip of fringe material including a web from which the fringe yarns depend. A rotary looper element engages the free end portions of a strand or group of fringe yarns, and wraps the strand around the needle. A reciprocable hook member then projects through the eye of the protracted needle, engages the strand and pulls the free end portion through the eye. The needle then retracts to pull the free end portion of the strand through the wrapped portion of the strand to complete a half-hitch knot. The '780 patent also discloses a knot tightening mechanism in which the free end of the knotted strand is held by a reciprocal shoe while a forked tightener straddles the yarn strand and moves away from the free end against the knot. The operation of the various elements of the knot tying mechanism and the knot tightening mechanism are synchronized with the operation of a fringe tufting machine so that a strand consisting of a multiple number of fringe yarns may be tied into a single knot.
The disclosed fringe knot tying machine is an improvement upon prior art machines through by increasing the speed while dramatically reducing the maintenance required. The disclosed machine can tie knots in a linear substrate that is either woven simultaneously on the machine or prewoven and fed through the machine. The disclosed said cutter system is placed proximate the center of the machine and having a knife and a looper which are independently operated by a series of clamp blocks and connecting links. The looper moves to a receiving position to receive threads of yarn from a needle and back to a rest position to await a subsequent thread of yarn. The knife moves to cut the yarn that is retained on the looper. A yarn needle, located on a first side of the machine is moveable from the edge of the machine to the center of the machine to carry the yarn to the looper. When a substrate is woven simultaneously on the machine, the yarn needle also interacts to provide the cross weave. A roller assembly is used to maintain the cut yarn in a taut position. The roller assembly has a bristle roller and a grooved worm that interact to maintain the yarn in position. The grooved worm receives the yarn from the yarn needle and moves the yarn toward the completion end. While the yarn is still within the roller assembly, an adjustable picker assembly moves into position and gathers a predetermined number of yarn strands together to enable the knot tying needle to grasp the strands. The picker assembly is run by cams at the completion end of the machine.
A knot tying needle assembly has one end that is affixed to the machine and movable needle with an open eye that extends up to grasp the gathered strands. An adjustable, movable knot tightener, proximate the open eye, interacts the movable needle to tighten the knot as the tying needle finalizes the knot. A oscillating gear is used to move the needle in clockwise and counterclockwise directions to facilitate the knot tying. Once the gathered strands are grasped by the knot tying needle, a filler hook assembly, movably affixed to a second side of the machine, also grasps the strands. The filler hook moves upward and pulls the strands from the roller assembly. To prevent the knot from collapsing or moving along the knot tying needle, a needle rod is used to remain in contact with the knot until it is tied. A rake assembly, having a rotating rake, is positioned come in contact with the tied knots, moving the tied knots toward the completion end.
The cutter assembly, yarn needle, roller assembly, picker assembly, knot tying needle assembly, filler hook assembly, needle rod and rake assembly are synchronized with one another to tie fringe knots.
When the substrate is woven on the machine a needle assembly is used having a pair of neddles, a rocker and an adjustable cam assembly. The adjustable cam assembly determines the movement of said needles in relationship to one another. A packer assembly has a packer reed proximate neddles for compressing threaded yarn into the woven substrate and a packer cam. The packer cam is designed to activate the packer reed to avoid contact with the yarn needle.
The advantages of the instant disclosure will become more apparent when read with the specification and the drawings, wherein:
The tying of knots for carpet and other types of fringe was accomplished for generations by hand tying. In 1897 U.S. Pat. No. 586,413 was issued to C. W. Arnold, disclosing a machine that would tie fringe knots. In 1968 U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,780 issued to J. L. Card et al and further automated the process of fringe knot tying. U.S. Pat. No. 5,86,413 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,780 are incorporated herein as though recited in full.
When a prewoven interface material is used, the heddles and other weaving process would not be used and the fringe would be knotted directly into the center line of the interface.
Knot Tightening Assembly
The tightening needle used in the knot tying needle assembly 150 is illustrated in FIG. 2. The knot tying needle 158, contained in a casing 156, grabs the predetermined number of strands of yarn and maintains the yard in a secure manner until the knot is completed. The gear brackets 160A, 160B, 162A and 162B are rigidly secured, through welding or other means, to the base plate 170 and serve to maintain the rigidity of the casing 156. The casing 156 extends from the gear bracket 160A to the bracket 162A and then from the bracket 162B to the bracket 160A. In the space between the first great bracket 162A and the second great bracket 162B carries the spur gear 168 which contacts and rotates the needle 158. The spur gear 168 has been increased in size over prior art machines to increase the stroke distance as well as reduce maintenance. The prior art machines used a small gear in order to match the rotation of the gear with the other gear assemblies within the machine. Due to the use of a rack gear 171, the size of the spur gear can be increased with any gearing adjustments being done within the figure eight cam assembly disclosed in FIG. 5. In addition to increasing the stroke distance, the larger gear enables a greater space between the teeth, thereby increasing efficiency of the machine. Because of the amount of lint produced in textiles, the gears frequently get filled with lint, causing the machines to jam. By increasing the distance between the gear teeth, the interaction between the gears loosens the lint and enables the machines to run more effectively for longer periods. As the spur gear 168 is in contact with the knotting needle 158, the rotation of the spur gear 168 in response to the back and forth movement of the rack gear 171, turns the needle 158 thereby twisting the yarn strands for knotting. Without the rotation of the knotting needle 158, it would be impossible to form the knot.
The rocker shaft 180 extends into the base plate 158 where it is non-movably connected to the tightener rod 178 at the block 182. The tip 183 of the rocker shaft 180 moves in response to the beveled cam 184, thereby causing the rocker shaft 180 to rock back and forth. This back and forth rocking motion causes the tightener rod to move up and down in the direction of arrow "A". The tightener rod 178 is permitted limited movement within the base plate 170 order to permit the knot tightener 176 to move from proximate the tying needle 158 to spaced from the needle 158. Therefore, as the rocker shaft 180 is moved, by the cam 184, back toward the spur gear 168, the tightener rod 178 is raised, placing the knot tightener 176 proximate the needle 158. As the rocker shaft 180 moves in the opposite direction, the tightening rod 178 is dropped and moved away from the needle 158. Therefore, the knot tightener 176 is timed to come into contact with the knot and needle 158 as the needle 158 is pulling the yarn strands downward. Once the needle 158 has finished the downward movement, the knot tightener 174 is pivoted away from contact with the needle 158.
The knot tightener 176, as illustrated in
Rake
In order to keep the knots moving along the line, a rake system 100 shown in
8-Cam
Heddle Assembly
The yarn is separated for the weaving process through the use of heddles 252 and 254, using the same concept as a loom. In prior art machines, a pair of gears was used to move the heddles, and hence the yarn. Dual gears require additional machinery as well as requiring constant synchronizing. To increase the efficiency of the heddle timing, the prior art dual gears were replaced by a single cam 270 attached to a cam arm 268. The cam arm 268 is attached to a transfer rod 266 which is secured to an adjustment block 264 at notch 265. The notch 265 enables the rod 266 to be moved along the length of the adjustment block 264 in order to adjust the amount of rotation of the adjustment block 264. The rocker rod 262 is secured to the adjustment block 264 and to the rocker arm 260 and serves to transfer the motion created by the cam 270, through use of heddle rods 258, to the heddles 252 and 254. Therefore, when the cam arm 268 forces the distal end of the adjustment block 264 downwardly, it turns the rocker rod 262 in a clockwise direction. This in turn rotates the rocker arm 260 and causes the heddle 254 to lower and the opposing heddle 252 to rise. As the cam arm 268 rotates, the adjustment block 264 distal end rises, turning the rocker rod 262 in a counterclockwise position, thereby alternating the positioning of the heddles 254 and 252. As the transfer rod 266 is moved further from the rocker rod 262 along the notch 265, the degree of rotation, per cam 270 revolution, of the adjustment block 264 is decreased, thereby decreasing the movement of the heddles 252 and 254.
The timing of the heddle positioning is critical since the needle must be inserted between the yarn layers, secured and returned to its original position, at which point in time the heddles switch position and the process repeats.
Cutter
One of the most difficult features in prior art machines is the cutting of the fringe. The novel cutting process, disclosed in
The disclosed cutter assembly 350 is mounted on the machine frame by U-bracket 354 and secured to the frame using bolts, welding or other equivalent means. By securing the U-bracket 354 using bolts, or other removable means, the cutter 350 is slidable along the frame, in the direction of arrow B, to enable the cutter 350 to be repositioned. The base plate 365, which is rigidly secured to the U-bracket 354, carries the chassis 356. The chassis 356 is moveably attach to the base plate 365 to enable it to be positioned along the base plate 365 and secured in the desired position through use of nuts, bolts or other means known in the art. By enabling the chassis 356 to be positioned on the base plate 365 in the direction of arrow A, the length of the fringe can be adjusted.
The adjustment bolt 372 is maintained at the proximal end above the chassis through the connection with the cam rod 30 illustrated in FIG. 1. The distal end of the bolt 372 is secured to the pivot arm 352. By rotating the adjustment bolt 372 within the securing nut 366, the pivot arm 352 can be adjusted. As the cam 32 rotates, it creates the action to pivot the bolt 372 which, in turn, serves to create the pivoting action of the worm 362 and pivot block 358. This action is not, as illustrated in
The worm 362 is adjustably attached to the worm block 369 through the use of the bolt 363. The worm block 369 rotates around the worm pivot 367 that is, in turn, in contact with the connecting link 370 and clamp blocks 368. The back and forth rotation of the worm block 369 causes the worm 362 to oscillate in the direction of arrow "C". The worm 362 is, in the portion of the cutting cycle illustrated in
As stated heretofore, all movement is derived from the pivot arm 352, thereby enabling the timing between the worm 362 and knife 360 to be synchronized. As seen in
Once a predetermined number of yarn 502 strands are gathered on the looper 362, the knife 364 moves into the cutting position as illustrated in
In order to prevent the yarn 502 from simply falling loosely, the brush 510 is constantly in motion in a clockwise direction. The movement of the brush maintains the yarn 502 between the brush 510 and a cam, as described in conjunction with
Brush and Worm
The brush 512 and worm 510 are illustrated in
Once the yarn forming the webbing of the fringe is woven and the fringe yard inserted, the web 790 is moved into the web support 802 which serves to support the web during the knot tying procedure.
To maintain the yarn 504 strands in a taut, but knotable, condition, the strands of yarn 504 are picked up and moved to the knot tying needle 158 by the combination of a worm 510 and a bristle roller 512. The worm 510 is grooved in a helical pattern that continually moves the yarn 504 toward the needle 158 as it rotates. The bristles of the roller 512 are in contact with the worm 510 to prevent the strands of yard 504 from dropping out of reach of the needle 158. The end of the worm 510 is positioned such that when the looper 362 is in the rest position, the yarn 504 is contacted by the end of the worm 510, directing the yarn 504 along the grooves in the worm 510.
The end of the worm 510 can be either cut, with the leading edge of the helix engaging the yarn 504. Alternatively an additional end can be added to the cut end of the worm 510 to engage and bring the yarn 504 onto the worm. The design of the alternative end will be evident to those skilled.
Picker
In order for the knot to be tied, the stands of yarn 504 must be gathered and consolidated to have a width capable of being grasped by the needle 158. Additionally to provide aesthetic consistency within the length of fringe, an identical number of yarn strands 504 must be knotted each time. This is accomplished through use of an oscillating arm referred to herein as a picker assembly 700 and illustrated in
In addition to the rocker plate 714 moving back and forth, the front pick arm 704 must drop to contact the yarn 504 at the time the rocker plate 714 is at its further most proximal position. In order to achieve the up/down movement of the pick arm, lifter cams 750 and 754 are used to lift and drop the pick arms 702 and 704 at the appropriate time. In order to achieve the desired action, it is critical that the pick arms are rigidly secured to the rocker 706 which is free to rock on the pivot 708 through use of the pivot pin 710.
As can be seen in this Figure, the back portion 703 of the back pick arm 702 is offset from the remaining pick arm 702 in order to avoid contact with the cam 717 and to place the pick arm 702 in contact with the lifting cams 752 and 750. The lifting cams 750 and 754, illustrated in
Yarn Needle
One of the many unique features of the disclosed machine is the positioning of the yarn needle 502. As seen on the over view of the machine of
The needle positioning is enables the use of the cutter as disclosed, as the needle assembly 500 must be on the opposing side of the machine to enable the placement of the yarn onto the looper 362. When the fringe knots are being formed on a prewoven substrate, the substrate is positioned to run through the machine to enable the yarn needle 504 to interact with the middle of the substrate. Therefore, once the knots are formed, the material can be folded and secured to either side of the final produce. Alternatively, the knots can be formed on either side of a substrate strip and placement will be evident to those skilled in the art.
Packer System
In
The linkage between the packer cam 800 and the packer reed 1002 can be a pivot, arm or other method that enables the packer reed 1002 to have the rapid movement required to move the newly threaded yarn 504 into position and then move out of the way of the needle 502 to enable the next strand of yarn 504 to be woven.
Filler Hook Assembly
In order to tie the knot, the ends of the yarn cut by the cutter assembly 350 must be held. This is accomplished by the filler hook 952 illustrated in FIG. 19. As can be seen in this Figure, the lower portion of the body 954 of the filler hook 952 forms a hook 956 that is dimensioned to receive the yarn 504. The filler hook assembly 950, illustrated in
The body 954 of the filler hook 952, as seen in
U-Guide
The U-guide 1030 of
Knotting Procedure
In
As the needle 158 slides off the ends of the knot, thereby completing the knot, the rake 1020 engages the knot moving it under the U-guide 1030 toward the roller end 1032 of the machine 10, as shown in FIG. 1.
Prewoven Substrate
In
Each of the actions within the machine are synchronized to interact with one another in exact timing. The gears, cams and belts illustrated herein are examples of the type that can be used and other parts will be evident to those skilled in the art.
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
7841631, | Dec 12 2008 | Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation | Shoelace tying device |
Patent | Priority | Assignee | Title |
3486780, | |||
504315, | |||
586413, |
Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Date | Maintenance Fee Events |
Jan 03 2007 | REM: Maintenance Fee Reminder Mailed. |
Feb 05 2007 | M2551: Payment of Maintenance Fee, 4th Yr, Small Entity. |
Feb 05 2007 | M2554: Surcharge for late Payment, Small Entity. |
Jan 24 2011 | REM: Maintenance Fee Reminder Mailed. |
Jun 17 2011 | EXP: Patent Expired for Failure to Pay Maintenance Fees. |
Date | Maintenance Schedule |
Jun 17 2006 | 4 years fee payment window open |
Dec 17 2006 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Jun 17 2007 | patent expiry (for year 4) |
Jun 17 2009 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 4) |
Jun 17 2010 | 8 years fee payment window open |
Dec 17 2010 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Jun 17 2011 | patent expiry (for year 8) |
Jun 17 2013 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 8) |
Jun 17 2014 | 12 years fee payment window open |
Dec 17 2014 | 6 months grace period start (w surcharge) |
Jun 17 2015 | patent expiry (for year 12) |
Jun 17 2017 | 2 years to revive unintentionally abandoned end. (for year 12) |